


Armin Vs. New Year's Eve

by moricat



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, Gay, M/M, New Year's Eve, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 08:01:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13231461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moricat/pseuds/moricat
Summary: Armin dreads New Year’s Eve parties but agrees to hang out with Eren for this one… Short gay fluffy drabble, happy New Year<3 :3





	Armin Vs. New Year's Eve

Eren seemed more timid than usual. Armin found that strange, considering it was a simple question that he directed at him.

" _Will you go to the party with me_?"

How mundane. Did such a question really call for Eren to seem so nervous? Armin was his best friend after all, so, what answer did Eren suppose he'd get? But there was no time to dwell on that, Eren was waiting for an answer...

Armin might've said " _Sure_!" instantly on any other night, but this was New Year's Eve... and he was pretty hesitant to jump right out and accept an invitation to a party for New Year's. Those were the kinds of parties that people claimed were for everyone, but for Armin, it was always embarrassing. At the end, people kiss. And then quite literally dance the night away. It's never the reason people give for going to those parties, but it's always the way people really celebrate the new year. Pulling the person you love, be it your lover or that person you've admired from afar for far, far too long, into your arms for a soft kiss during the countdown into January 1st was everyone's dream whether they admitted it or not. And swaying as one to the music under the fireworks... Armin always felt so anxious and embarrassed at every New Years party because he'd never experienced that, likely wasn't going to that night, and likely never would, he convinced himself. It's one of those things that brings an outcast like him to their knees on the inside. A pang of self loathing that you feel after a year of repressing it, before repressing it again until the next New Year's Eve party. Or Valentine's Day or Christmas... A lonely heart could feel it on any day where intimacy is supposed to be a staple to them. And now... Eren, of all people, Eren Yeager of Shiganshina, the hero of the Walls, the dearest person in Armin's life, and the owner of Armin's heart whether he fully understood that or not, was asking him to attend this party with him. Eren probably didn't realize what a shame these parties were to Armin, but what a blush worthy moment anyway.

"Ah, Eren... I don't know, I don't really like going to those kinds of parties..."

Eren looked saddened by that. Armin wasn't sure why.

"Do you really wanna go?" he asked, now hesitating to reject the invitation.

Eren smiled under his sad eyes. "Not without you."

Well... Armin couldn't reject that. "Alright. It could be fun." the little blond boy beamed, relieved to find it seemingly brought Eren's spirit back.

The party was your typical New Year's Eve soirée. The smell of alcohol filled the air in the royal palace, bright colors danced around the space around them, laughter rang through everyone's ears. Eren held Armin's hand as they shimmied through the crowds in the courtyard to find a spot in the lounge for themselves to relax in. Eren wore an outfit Armin had seen several times before but it was his best one. And he couldn't help noticing Eren had put just a little extra effort into his appearance. It made him smile to himself. Eren was always so well kept.

Eventually Eren stopped them at a little empty couch in the back of the room. It was no less loud than the rest of the big drunken household, but it somehow felt like an oasis for just the two of them.

"Comfy?" Eren asked.

"Mm." came Armin's short reply from beside him.

Eren excused himself to bring back some punch, a recipe Historia herself had dug up from the cookbooks just for this party. But it was such a big hit that Eren could only manage to bring back one cup, giving it to Armin without a second thought. Armin humbly accepted it and took a sip, finding it an interesting spicy flavor he hadn't experienced before, and handed it to Eren to try too. He didn't give that a second thought but Eren blushed. Armin raised an eyebrow. How odd. Did this call for a blush? They share drinks all the time, and the punch wasn't all that tasty, nor even had that much alcohol... Nevertheless, Eren took a dainty sip while looking away from his companion.

A half hour had passed and Armin took a deep breath. It was getting close to the big countdown. Those dreaded 10 seconds where everyone excitedly kisses their partners to celebrate a new year of love with them or to share in the discovery of a love with them. Eren was so confident everywhere he went... Armin always wished to himself for those 10 seconds that he could just be like that. So proud and self assured that no matter what was going on around him, he could brush it off like it were nothing but dust on his shoulder. But when he glanced over, he noticed Eren biting his nails, seemingly in deep thought.

"Are you okay?" the blond asked sweetly as he reached out in Eren's direction.

Eren suddenly looked over at his friend, almost like he'd just been broken out of a deep trance. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"I've never seen you bite your nails before." Armin commented bluntly, but with his sweet tone unchanging.

Eren chuckled nervously. "Oh, yeah? Huh. Guess I must've been distracted."

What kind of an answer was that? Armin smiled and shook his head. Eren was so easy to read and yet so complicated. Like a book Armin could never put down, and so much more. But still the clock ticked on...

Eren eventually walked Armin to the center of the courtyard to get a better look at the entertainment that Historia generously recruited for this evening, and the upcoming fireworks she'd promised to set off the new year. Armin began to look more and more depressed as the music began to slow down, a sure sign that Auld Lang Syne would be playing soon for the dreaded countdown. They'd be playing it on violins too, wouldn't they? Just what Armin needed. More romantic undertones to one of his least favorite moments of the year... But he sighed to himself in resignation. He was sorry for thinking so negatively of tonight. People have every right to enjoy their romances this evening, while his own internal issues ought to remain his own. And so, perhaps just over a minute before the countdown might start, he decided maybe it was best to leave...

"Eren?"

Eren eagerly turned to meet the meek voice of his companion with a soft "Yes, Armin?"

"I think, maybe I should go..." he told him sadly, arms folded and held to his chest.

"Why? What's wrong?" Eren asked with a disappointed and worried expression.

"Well, mm... There's a reason I don't really like to go to these things." he began. But without intending it, he found himself confessing his entire problem with New Year's Eve. "It just feels so lonely... No one ever asks me to these things. And lovers always kiss during the countdowns, and dance into the next year, planning on spending next year together, perhaps longer... It hurts." he concluded with a sickly bittersweet smile.

Eren just looked at Armin for a moment, his lips lining in such a way under his knit eyebrows that it looked as though he had a lot to say, but no idea how to say it. "Nobody ever asks you, huh?"

"Mm-mm..." Armin shook his head no.

Eren reached out, trembling ever so slightly, and took Armin's hand in his. "I did..."

Armin's eyes suddenly burst wide open. Was this a date? Did he just have a New Year's Eve date with Eren that went completely over his head? Is Eren holding his hand right now? Is that the countdown suddenly beginning?...

The beery crowds began calling out their slurry string of numbers. Armin's heart raced and yet he felt like his heartbeat and time itself were stopping altogether. 10 seconds... 10 seconds until- well, couldn't finish the thought. Eren gazed into his eyes, those big wondrous sparkling eyes that he saw the whole world and more in, the eyes that make him want to do everything. And make him feel like he _can_ do anything... Armin could only wait. He could only stand still until Eren did whatever he was going to do. 10 seconds. The longest 10 seconds of his life. But as the crowd seemed to fade into nothingness, as the numbers dwindled from 10 to 1, as the violins began playing, as the sound of crackling from the lighted fireworks flittered through the air... Eren's lips met his.

Armin instinctively slipped his hand over Eren's neck and pulled himself in closer. Eren's hands found their way to Armin's blushing cheeks, finally indulgently feeling how round and soft they were like they'd always wanted to. The crowds cheered behind them for the happy new year, singing along to the old drinking song as tradition dictates while the thunder of fireworks commanded the people below to enjoy their new year.

As Eren and Armin pulled away, they seemed to pause to find out what each other thought. Armin's dizzy eyes slowly opened up again with a flutter. Eren's smile slowly returned at the sight of the sparkle he'd so hoped to see in those eyes of Armin's when this finally happened. But the two remained silent. Armin couldn't think. Eren couldn't move. But as the song Armin previously dreaded, wrapped around them in beautiful, warm string tones, the pair finally came to, and began swaying together as one. Armin looked forward to a happy new year after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year<3 may it be a wonderful one!


End file.
